Vulcanizing unit



March 30, 1937; H A VAN DYKE 2,075,486

VULCANI Z ING UNIT Filed Jan. 9; 1956 fr.- 35 F76. f

' I IN M y miHHIHHHUM I H INVENTOR. BY HENRY 4. MW Own-.-

ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 30, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT oFF1cE ApplicationJanuary 9, 1936, Serial No. 58,431

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an electrical vulcanizer and particularly toan electrical vulcanizer for vulcanizing patches upon rubber articles,such as tire tubes, rubber balls, bags, and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide an electrical vulcanizer whichis so constructed as to eliminate the danger of injuring the article towhich a patch is being vulcanized because of excessive vulcanizing heat.

A further object is to provide an electrical vulcanizer which can beused on the road to repair tire tubes or can be employed in garages,filling stations, and the like for the same pur- Another object is toprovide an electrical vulcanizer which is simple in construction andrelatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which can be easily used forvulcanizing rubber patches upon rubber articles.

Further and additional objects and advantages not referred to above willbecome apparent hereinafter during the following detailed description ofan embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the electrical vulcanizer embodyingthe present invention, the rubber article to which the patch is beingvulcanized being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a detail top plan view of one of the members of the electricalvulcanizer;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 33 of Fig. 2,looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a detail top plan view of another member of the electricalvulcanizer;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 4,looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale and is takensubstantially on line 6--6 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of thearrows.

The electrical vulcanizer comprises a suitable C-shaped member Ill, onearm of which is provided with an enlarged fiat article supporting plateor table II, while the other arm of the member It has at its end andabove the plate II a boss I2 which is provided with a threaded bore inwhich is screwed a clamping bolt I3 carrying at its upper end a wingoperating handle I4. The lower end of the clamping bolt I3 is providedwith a reduced portion which engages in a recessed boss I5 on the upperside of a cup-' EISSUED shaped member I6 formed of suitable electricallyconductive material.

The member I6 is provided with two binding posts I1 and I8 and the postI! is insulated from the member I6 and carries on its lower end andwithin the cup-shaped member I6 a spring contact finger I9 ofelectrically conductive material, which finger terminates adjacent thecentral portion of the member I6. A suitable piece of electricalinsulating material 20 is secured in the bottom of the cup-shaped memberI6, while the binding post I8 is in electrical circuit with the memberI6.

A vulcanizing pad 2|, preferably in the form of a sheet metal cup, asclearly shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5, is adapted to be positioned duringthe use of the electrical vulcanizer within the member I6. The pad 2I isprovided adjacent its open end with a relatively thick insulating disk22 and adjacent its bottom with a relatively thin insulating disk 23, itbeing noted that the disk 22 is provided with an elongated arcuate slot22a for a purpose later to be explained.

A coiled electrical resistance element 24 is arranged between theinsulating disks 22 and 23, and one end of said element extendscentrally through the disk 22 and has a portion lying exteriorly of thedisk, as indicated at 25 in Figs. 4 and 5, while the opposite end of theresistance element is electrically connected to a rivet 26 which iscarried by the insulating disk 22.

The rivet 26 carries in electrical contact therewith a spring contactfinger 21 located in the slot 22a. of the disk 22, while the outer endof said finger overlies an opening 23a in the insulating disk 23,wherefore the outer end of the contact finger 21 can be brought intoengagement withthe bottom of the cup-shaped member 2I and solderedthereto by suitable fusible solder 28, it being noted that when thecontact finger 2'! is thus connected to the cup-shaped member 2I saidfinger is placed under spring tension.

The disks 22 and 23 and the resistance element 24 are held assembled inthe cup-shaped member 2I by means of tongues 2Ia which are cut out ofthe edge of the member 2I and bent down over the outer side of the disk22. The member 2| carries on its under side a suitable patch 29, seeFig. 1, which is to be vulcanized to the rubber article, as will be wellunderstood.

The binding posts I! and I8 are connected to suitable electricalconductors 3|] and 3I which may be connected to suitable clamps 32 whichin turn can be electrically connected with the posi- I tive and negativeterminal postsof a-batteryas represented by the conductors 33 and 34 inFig. 1.

When the device is employed on the road or in other places where theonly source of electrical current is from a storage battery, the clamps32 are connected to the storage battery as just described. However, whenthe device is employed where a suitable source of commercial current isavailable, the device can be connected thereto through any suitable andwell known transformer,

In operation; the article 35 to which the patch is to be vulcanized ispositioned on the table II of the clamping member. Then the electricalvulcanizer, including the cup-shaped member |-6" with the vulcanizingpad or cup-shaped member 2| positioned therein, is located over therubber article with the patch 29 carried by the member 2| in thelocation where it is to be vulcanized to the article. The reduced end ofthe clamping screw or bolt i3 is positioned in the recessed boss f5 ofthe member l6 and the screw then turned down to firmly clamp the membersI6 and 2| against the rubber article. The clamping of the members l6 and2| against the rubber article brings the end 25 of the resistanceelement into tight electrical contact with the end of the contact fingerl6, wherefore, when electrical current is applied to the binding postsI! and I8, a complete circuit will be established through the contactfinger l9, resistance element 24, contact finger 21, and the members 2|and I6. Assuming that the conductors 3|! and 3| are connected to asource of electrical energy, the flow of the current through the device,as just referred to, will cause the electrical resistance element 24 toheat up to produce the necessary heat for vulcanization, wherefore,since the patch 29 is held against the rubber article 35 under thepressure of the clamping screw l3, said patch will be vulcanized to thearticle. Inasmuch as excessive heat will have a deleterious effect uponthe rubber article, it is desirable that the heat should not exceed adegree necessary to produce the desired vulcanization. The presentconstruction is such that all danger of excessive heat being createdwith a consequent damage of the rubber article is eliminated during thevulcanization.

This is accomplished by the use of the fusible solder 28 for connectingthe contact finger 21 to the bottom of the cup member 2|. When the heatcreated by the heating of the resistance element reaches a predeterminedpoint, the solder 28 will fuse, and since the contact finger 21 has beenplaced under spring tension, when soldered to the member 2| said fingerwill immediately spring in the slot 22a from the full line positionshown in Fig. 6 to the dot and dash line position shown therein, atwhich time the electrical circuit through the device will be broken.

7 From the foregoing description it will be seen that an electricalvulcanizer embodying the present invention is safe, can be used eitherwith an electrical storage battery or with a source of commercialelectrical energy, is easily assembled, and requires no particular skillin its operation.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustratedand described herein, it should be understood that the invention issusceptible of various modifications and adaptations within the scope ofthe appended claims.

, Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A vulcanizing device adapted to be used with but readily separablefrom a suitable clamping means and comprising a pair of cooperatingsuperimposed separable members, one of which is adapted to have pressureapplied thereto by the clamping means and the other of which is providedwith a vulcanizing patch for engagement with a rubber article, anelectrical resistance element carried by one of said members which whenenergized creates the heat of vulcanization, and cooperating meanscarried by said members and coacting automatically when said members arearranged in the clamping means in superimposed relation and pressure isapplied to the first named member by said clamping means to enable anelectrical circuit to be completed through said resistance element.

2. A vulcanizing device comprising a pair of cooperating superimposedmembers, an electrical resistance element carried by one of said membersand adapted to be energized to create the heat of vulcanization, one ofsaid members being adapted to have pressure applied thereto by asuitable clamping means and the other of said members being separablefrom said first named member and said clamping means and adapted tocarry a vulcanizing patch for engagement with a rubber article, andfusible means carried by said last named member for controlling theelectrical circuit through said resistance element and which fuses at apredetermined temperature, whereby said last named member is destroyedby use andmay be discarded following the vulcanization process.

3. An electrical vulcanizer adapted to be used with a suitable clampingmeans and comprising two interfitting separable members, one of whichisadapted to be placed against the article to be vulcanized, an electricalresistance element mounted in said last named member, a spring contactfinger carried by the other of said members and adapted to contact oneend of said resistance element when the two members are positionedtogether so that an electrical circuit can be completed through saidresistance element.

4. An electrical vulcanizer adapted to be used with a suitable clampingmeans and comprising two interfitting separable members one of which isadapted to be placed against the article to be vulcanized, an electricalresistance element mounted in said last named member, a spring contactfinger carried by the other of said members and adapted to contact oneend of said resistance element when the two members are positionedtogether, whereby an electrical circuit can be completed through saidresistance element, and a spring contact finger electrically connectedto the other end of said resistance element and having its end connectedto the member carrying the resistance element by means of a solderedfusible connection.

5. An electrical vulcanizer adapted to be used, with a suitable clampingmeans and comprising a cup-shaped member formed of electricallyconductive material and provided with a spring contact finger locatedwithin said member and terminating centrally thereof, a secondcup-shaped member formed of electrically conductive material and adaptedto fit within said first member but separable therefrom, and anelectrical resistance element located in said second member and havingone of its ends arranged centrally thereof and adapted to contact saidcontact finger when said members are positioned together whereby anelectrical circuit. can be completed through said resistance element.

6. An electrical vulcanizer adapted to be used with a suitable clampingmeans and comprising a cup-shaped member formed of electricallyconductive material and provided with a spring contact finger locatedwithin said member and terminating centrally thereof, a secondcup-shaped 5 member formed of electrically conductive material adaptedto fit within said first member but separable therefrom, a pair ofinsulating disks arranged in said second member and having a resistanceelement located therebetween, one end 10 of said resistance elementextending through one of said disks and adapted to contact said contactfinger when said members are positioned together, the opposite end ofsaid resistance element being connected to a rivet carried by said lastnamed insulating disk, and a spring contact finger having one endelectrically connected to said rivet and said element and its oppositeend electrically connected to the bottom of said second named member bymeans of a fusible soldered connection.

HENRY A. VAN DYKE.

